- What is alchemy?
- Where did alchemy originate?
- Are there alchemists today?
- Can anyone study alchemy?
- Where does one learn alchemy?
- What are the best books to read about
alchemy for beginners?
- What is the goal of alchemy?
- Has alchemy been superceded by modern
science?
- What is the relationship between
alchemy and modern science?
- What is the relationship between
alchemy and religion?
- What is the personal goal of an
alchemist?
- What is the philosophers Stone?
- What is the elixir of Life?
- How does longevity work?
- Is alchemy black magick?
- Who are some modern alchemists?
- Who is Frater Albertus?
- Who was Paracelsus?
- Who is Jean Dubuis?
- What is alchemy?
- What is alchemy?
- What is alchemy?
- What is alchemy?
- What is alchemy?
- What is alchemy?
- What is alchemy?
- When is ... ?
There are fundamentally four definitions of alchemy today.
(1) Alchemy is an ancient tradition of sacred chemistry by
which one discovers the truth about the nature (both spiritual
and temporal) of reality, its structure, laws and functions.
(Traditional school of thought.)
(2) Alchemy has nothing to do with chemistry (essentially) but
is in fact a spiritual psychology veiled in archaic chemical
symbolism. (Jungian or neo-Jungian school of thought.)
(3) Alchemy is sex magick traditionally veiled in archaic
chemical symbolism. (Western sex magick school of thought.)
(4) Alchemy is whatever I say it is because nobody knows what it
is. ((Generally) The new-age school of thought.)
The first definition of alchemy is the original and
traditional definition. The alchemical tradition extends back
over 5000 years. Other definitions outside of the traditional
one, have only become popular in the last 200 years.
The second definition is based on two premises. That
traditional alchemical literature mentions both (supposedly
archaic) spiritual and psychological concepts as well as
(supposedly archaic) chemical concepts. It was suggested as an
offshoot of Jungian psychology, which picked up the concept from
mainstream occultism, that the chemical symbolism in classic
alchemical literature is merely a cryptographic mechanism
designed to hide what was then thought to be secret or heretical
knowledge.
The third definition began to gain wider acceptance during
the 19th century as Western (and largely Germanic) European sex
occultists pondered the details of Eastern sexual occult
practices and began the process of transcribing them into a
format more easily digestible to Western occultists. The basic
rationale' here begin that because classic alchemical literature
spoke relatively often about the copulation of male and female
principles, and because such imagery filled the tantric
tradition to over flowing, that they in fact must be one and the
same system.
The fourth definition is not worth commenting upon because
its adherents rarely have even the most superficial knowledge of
alchemy upon which to base even a halfway acceptable argument.
This collection of FAQs on alchemy is only concerned with the
first and traditional definition. It also states that the other
three definitions are only valid outside any consideration of
the tradition that is the origin of the term and activities
referred to as 'alchemy'. The rationale for all other
definitions, outside the first, is based on one simple idea -
and that is that - because alchemy concerns itself with a
universal concept, then anything and everything can be referred
to as being alchemical.
While this is true in a general and holistic sense it does
not help us to describe and define 'traditional' alchemy.
For example, while it is true that the craft of crop
cultivation involves the artistic improvement of a natural
process of the life/death cycle of, say, wheat, it does not help
matters to call the wheat farmer an alchemist.
It is requisite, therefore, in support of our definition, to
insist that an alchemist, in the traditional sense of the word,
is someone who consciously practices alchemy with the intention
of obtaining its traditional goals.
To summarise then:
Alchemy is the art and science of discovering the hidden
secrets of the natural structure, laws and functions of created
things. Alchemy seeks to do this by applying a universal
formula, which in fact is evolution in its essential sense, to
objects in the three kingdoms, animal, vegetable and mineral,
with the intention of revealing the causes of things and thereby
understanding the spiritual nature underlying the outer forms of
the universe.
The rationale behind this is that every physical 'thing' has
its spiritual counterpart. That by dissecting physical things
and uncovering and examining their simplistic core structures
and properties, the basic spiritual laws which support the
universe may be known and understood (to some degree).
(and how by what road did it travel to get to the Western
world?)
The origins of alchemy are shrouded in mystery. The art has
been practiced since before recorded history. The oldest written
records of all the main cultures include references to
alchemical concepts and alchemical methodology.
For convenience sake it is often said that the art originated
in ancient Egypt with the reign of the God-king Thoth-Hermes,
the founder of the Hermetic (magickal) Tradition. Alchemists
themselves often refer to Thoth as having created alchemy as the
mother science, the font and touchstone (measuring stick) of
every other art and science.
Another legend professed often by Christian alchemists of the
middle ages was that it was the science given to Adam after his
expulsion from Eden, in order to aid him in finding a way to
return to paradise.
History, though, insists that the Egyptians and Sumerians
first practiced a type of alchemy from the earliest ages. That
the Greeks gained access to this knowledge when they conquered
Egypt about 332BCE. This knowledge passed to the
Arabs about 500AD when they took control of Egypt.
The Arabs translated the Greek texts they obtained into their
own language. Then, during the dark ages, Christian monks
seeking wisdom from the East were initiated into secret
societies by the Arabs, gained knowledge of alchemy, and started
translating Greek and Arab alchemical texts into Latin.
In this way the esoteric alchemical tradition was preserved
and passed on within the Christian monastic tradition (in the
Western world), almost solely, until the renaissance. At that
time secular persons being initiated into secret societies began
bringing such information out into the light of day through
secular publications.
The alchemical tradition has survived in an unbroken chain of
transmission down to the present day.
Although there are obviously, to the trained observer, many
misunderstandings and errors and forgotten knowledge within the
circles of the modern inheritors of this ancient tradition, it
is also logical that, because of the cryptic nature of nearly
all classic alchemical literature, we would not have more than
the simplest operative tradition today if we did not have access
to information that had been preserved and passed down from
ancient times.
Besides this consideration, once one manages to gain access
into the still very closed circles of operative alchemists it
becomes immediately obvious that the tradition is still quite
healthy and productive.
There certainly is nothing, outside of a natural born lack of
intelligence or physical capability, stopping anyone from
practicing alchemy. That is, unless the country you reside in
has laws against such things as the ownership or use of
laboratory equipment or the distillation of alcohol. There are
men and woman both young and old in many of the worlds cultures
who practice and investigate alchemy enthusiastically.
There are also a good number of helpful books to aid the
beginner, and experienced alchemists who are willing to tutor
apprentices.
The answer to this question depends largely on your
temperament. There are three usual approaches though.
(1) You seek tuition from an experienced alchemist.
(2) You join a school which teaches alchemy.
(3) You go it alone and try to learn from books and by
experience.
The above suggestions are arranged in the order of likelihood
of gaining most success (in alchemical pursuit).
There is little doubt that if one manages to obtain personal
one-on-one tuition with an experienced alchemist that it is
under those conditions that he will learn the most. Schools can
teach a great deal, but the most public ones (which are easiest
to join) generally prove to be the least reliable. There are,
however, a few good schools that are not public, that are part
of some fraternal system usually, that provide an excellent
learning environment. Such schools usually describe themselves
as being 'primarily' alchemical in focus. It should be
understood that experience has shown that esoteric colleges (or
Orders) which teach alchemy as 'part' of their course of study
often are not teaching alchemy at all (but some other lame
excuse for alchemy).
The third option is understandably the least likely to
produce much of worth alchemically speaking. If one studies
alone the main source of inspiration is going to be literature.
It is well known that such literature is so cryptic in format
that few individuals ever gain much aid without some other
outside help.
In fact it is a well known alchemical axiom that:
Needless to say that we have met few students over the years
who make claim to gaining any 'real' headway through revelation.
We all have our moments where we piece things together by means
of long contemplation. But success is rarely gained without the
experienced help of an Adept or Master alchemist.
There are a couple of other areas of interest which the
novice aspirant might consider as sources of help if he is
online. That is to join alchemical e-lists, chat rooms or
newsgroups (usenet) and to search web sites.
Without doubt the all time best read for the novice is Frater
Albertus' "The Alchemists Handbook".
Frater Albertus is one of the big names in modern alchemy,
and this book of his starts right at the beginning and takes the
novice through each successive step in the 'prima' (first stage
of learning) or herbal work, in easy to understand language.
Albertus also includes some notes on advanced work and on the
general philosophy of alchemy.
Next in line after Albertus' handbook is Manifred Junius'
"Plant Alchemy". Manifred is another well known and
respected modern alchemist and his book on plant alchemy (the
prima) is very detailed and has a slight Eastern twist to it.
After these two books we might mention "John Reid IIIs
course on practical alchemy" found at Adam McLeans website
(http://www.levity.com/alchemy/johnreid.html)
This is a complete instruction book on the herbal work with
almost everything required in the way of knowledge by the
novice.
Below we provide a liast of good beginners reading material
that will serve well for the student who has become familiar
with the prima practicum and the basic philosophy.
- Collecteana Chemica (A.E.Waite)
- The Hermetic Museum (A.E.Waite)
- The Great Art (Joseph Pernety)
- A Compendium of Alchemical Processes (Anon)
- The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony (Basil Valentine)
- Alchemy rediscovered and Restored (Achibald Cockren)
The goal of alchemy can be described as being both of two
things:
(1) To produce the Philosophers Stone and the Elixir of Life
... and
(2) To provide an education about the mechanics of the secret
nature of the universe during the process of seeking the first
goal.
We might also add that one of the roles that alchemy, as an
esoteric art/science was originally designed to play in the
drama of esoteric education in general was for it to provide an
accurate measure of what is possible and what is not where the
claims of occultism are concerned.
Alchemy is therefore referred to as a touchstone. It is an
accurate mirror of natural law wherein everything that might be
claimed by an esoteric science, such as magick, can be tested
and proved under laboratory conditions. It has been said that
the original Rosicrucians, who were great champions of alchemy,
would not accept any claim by occultists, that could not stand
up to the alchemists scrutiny.
It would often be argued by spiritually minded persons that
such an exercise cannot be carried out, and such an insistence
has been the basis of many weird and foolhardy claims by
spiritual aspirants.
Nevertheless every alchemist worth his salt knows that every
spiritual concept is anchored to some physical basis and that
the one may be measured and understood by the other with little
difficulty.
This is probably the most commonly asked question by heavily
left brain bias individuals.
The basic supposition is that humanity has progressed greatly
since the pre-Christian times and that modern science has a
vastly greater understanding of and mastery over 'things'. It is
also taken for granted (based on the previous premise) that it
is only through our advancement in technology that we are
capable of fathoming the depths of nature.
There is another side to this issue though that claims that
where science has made some amazing advancements in
understanding matter to the benefits of those who wish to
exploit it, that it has also careered out of control to the
point where it is likely to cause the near extinction of
humanity in the near future. The eventuality, it is argued, is
the result of a lack of understanding of the non-physical (or
spiritual) side of nature.
Besides these quite common claims about the role alchemy
might play in a science ravaged society there is also the fact
that alchemists, today, just as their forbears in past times,
possess secrets about the nature of reality and the manipulation
of matter which have not been solved by conventional science and
which have not even been considered yet by the greater portion
of humanity.
This puts experienced alchemists in a precarious position
where psycho-spiritual mechanics are concerned.
[This is the answer to the question.]
